Tax credits for new immigrants
This whole brouhaha about the tax credit for businesses employing new foreign Ontarians (or Ontarian foreigners) is actually very unfortunate other than for the obvious reason of being xenophobic and culturally divisive. It serves Hudak right that he has gone down in the polls since he jumped on this in the hope that it would serve his purposes as a wedge issue.
However, it has served the purposes of both Hudak and McGuinty in that they can focus public attention on something relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things and not have to explain how they will deal with the big issues of the day; somewhat like a conjurer using sleight of hand to distract you while he does his trick. From what I have been reading and reflecting upon, there are three cluster issues that politicians of the day need to address at provincial and federal levels: jobs and the economy; healthcare ; power generation and the environment. Overarching all three is the issue of taxes.
Jobs and the economy
There is a mantra that I keep hearing that lowering taxes will stimulate the economy; raising taxes will kill the economy. The assumption seems to be that if you lower taxes then people will spend that money locally in a way that will benefit local business. How much money are we talking about here? Let's say $360.00 per year for a middle class family. If that $30 per month does not result in new jobs being created locally, or in Ontarian businesses being able to use that $30 to generate another $10 or $20 or $30, then all that $30 amounts to is a politician buying votes by cutting services. An extra thirty dollars a month does not automatically spell an improvement in living standards if a single mom has greater difficulty finding a daycare spot or the family of someone who is mentally ill can no longer find the care their daughter/sister/mother needs.
McGuinty, Hudak and Company, what exactly is your strategy for job creation and please don't tell me tax cuts or ending the gravy train.
Healthcare
The median and the average ages of the population are getting older. At the same time as a large number of Ontarians start leaving the workforce, more and more of those retirees are going to need more and more acute and long-term healthcare. Put in another way, more public healthcare is going to be needed with proportionately fewer people to pay for it. Right now, Healthcare is paid for almost entirely by taxes. Our politicians are all pledging enormous amounts of money for the future of Healthcare. Some of those same politicians are pledging to reduce taxes. Hmmm. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that something's got to give, somewhere. The American model is that anything can be fixed if you throw enough money at it. Oops. We've just hit the wall on that one. No more money. Healthcare may need more money, but it also needs a new solution in terms of structuring, priorities and who can give what care and where and to whom. The present model is simply not sustainable in the medium term, let alone the long term. Not to mention the fact that many chronic illnesses have their origins in our CO2 polluted environment or exposure to other toxins in the air we breathe or the water we drink - all of which is getting worse.
McGuinty, Hudak and Company, what exactly is your strategy for ensuring the medium and long term healthcare needs for Ontarians, and please don't tell me you are going to throw money at the problem? We all know that there IS no money because you are not going to raise taxes or cut services.
Power generation and the environment
In 2007, CTV News quoted Stephen Harper as saying that Canada "must act" to curb global warming, and John Baird as saying, "We've clearly got to take action. I think Canadians don't want to hear what can't be done but they want to hear what action will be taken by their government and we hear that call."
Yes. Well, that was 2007 and Canadians are still waiting to hear. Meanwhile global warming and other environmental issues are getting worse at an increasing rate and the world's accusation is that Canada is one of the worst offenders. At the same time we need to decide now and start implementing now our green power generation programs so that we are positioned to supply the energy needs that the future expanding economy, with all the new jobs, is going to need when it all starts happening. A lesson from South Africa is that you cannot wait until you need it to start building your new power generators.
McGuinty, Hudak and Company, what exactly is your strategy for new power generation, and please don't tell me energy from coal, oil, gas or nuclear fission?
Taxes
I want good, affordable healthcare, the more so as I grow older. I want good roads to drive on and reliable public transit when I need it; I want good schools for my grandchildren. I want my garbage collected. I want clean drinking water and I want health inspectors to ensure that I can go to a restaurant and enjoy a meal without spending the rest of the night suffering the bi-directional after effects of bad hygiene in the chef's kitchen. The list could go on and on. If I go to hospital I want to know that certain standards of cleanliness and hygiene are the norm and that I will be treated by properly qualified medical staff. To ensure all this and so much more I am more than happy to pay taxes. I would complain if I felt I was not getting a good bang for my tax dollar but, honestly, I cannot say that. On the contrary, I would be quite happy to pay more if I knew it would help address the issues above. I long for the day when some honest politician stands up and says, "Here's my platform. You've got to pay more taxes. Here's why this is a good thing that you should jump at: etc., etc." If nothing else, people would know they're being honest.
